Commons Tour of Stamford Hill

Common Land has a long and rich tradition of bringing people together in the public realm, and this tradition continues today in the north-eastern corner of Hackney.

This guided walking tour around Clapton Common, historic common land in Stamford Hill, will be led by some of the architects and community builders who have recently delivered new social infrastructure to serve a mixed community. The tour will explore both top down and bottom-up projects, including Tower Court (new public housing), St Thomas’ Church (a modernist church designed by N F Cachemaille Day) and The Common Rooms (a community space designed with and for local residents).

The tour will begin with a visit to the new housing at Tower Court, designed for Hackney Council by Adam Khan Architects and muf architecture/art in collaboration with Daisy Froud, J&L Gibbons, Cathy Hawley, Tom Stebbing, Bernd Schmutz and Child Graddon Lewis.
Conceived as an extension of Clapton Common, the tour will take in the common areas of the new buildings alongside the play spaces and landscaping.

The walk across the common will pass a playground designed by Erect Architecture, then pass Liberty Hall, former public toilets converted into a community kitchen and garden for the grassroots charity Clapton Commons, designed by David Cook Architects.

Crossing the road from the common, we will visit a historic Georgian terrace that culminates in St Thomas' Church, reconstructed following the Blitz by the prolific modernist architect N F Cachemaille Day.

The tour will end at The Common Rooms where Artefact reinvented the undercroft of the church as a place for people of all faiths and backgrounds to come together in the community.